Atalanta forward Luis Muriel admits that the Serie A high-flyers were punished in ruthless fashion during their 5-0 Champions League thumping at home to Liverpool on Tuesday, speaking to Sky, translated by Football Italia.
Jurgen Klopp might have lost his best defender to injury but, at the other end of the pitch, the Merseyside giants look as fearsome and thrilling as ever.
Mo Salah and Sadio Mane scored brilliant second-half goals in Bergamo but it was Diogo Jota, the £40 million summer signing, who stole the show during a staggering triumph over a team who finished third in Serie A and came within seconds of reaching the Champions League semi-finals last season.
Liverpool famously missed out on Timo Werner to Chelsea but Jota produced a performance the Germany international would have been proud of in Italy, showcasing breakneck speed and ruthless finishing en route to his third European hat-trick in the last 11 months.
And Muriel, who missed an excellent chance himself with the score at 0-0, admits an Atalanta side who fell short of their usually exceptional standards were made to pay.
“It’s difficult to comment after a defeat like that. We weren’t ourselves tonight, and when you are not at 100 per cent against a side like Liverpool, you will pay a heavy price,” the Colombia international explains.
“Liverpool showed what they can do when up against a team that is not at 100 per cent. After the second goal, we tried to stay in the game and at half-time discussed what we had to do to keep it going and try to equalise.
“After one minute of the second half we conceded, then a couple of minutes later a fourth goal, that knocked us down and we never recovered.
“This result hurts.”
Salah, Mane, Jota, Jordan Henderson and youngster Curtis Jones were magnificent on the night.
But, if there was one negative that can be taken from a game full of positives, it’s that Atalanta could – and should – have scored a couple themselves.
Unfortunately, the wasteful Duvan Zapata left his shooting boots at home with Alisson Becker in fine form as ever.
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